Junior Pops Concert

The Men's Choir performed at their last concert of the year on Monday.  It was a super fun concert because the men's and women's choirs got to perform pop songs which can be more fun than the challenging arrangements that choir directors sometimes come up with for songs the kids aren't as familiar with.

 

He got the job!

After a 5 month long hiatus that included a 3-week journey of self discovery, job searching, interviewing and quality family time, Jeff landed the job he truly wanted.   He is now the Employee Relations Director for the City of Lakewood.  As I am posting this after he has been with Lakewood for a month, I am happy to report that he is extremely pleased with his decision, his boss is fantastic and he is loving his new gig!!!

Gymnastics meet

Mattea had her first regular season gymnastics meet on Saturday.  She is competing as a Compulsory 3 gymnast and, along with her teammates, will be performing on the beam, floor, vault and bars.  There were about 8 other teams at the meet.  For her age group, Mattea ended up taking 2nd place on beam, vault and bars and 3rd place on floor... PLUS, she placed 1st in all-around!  She is anxious to move to the next level, but I keep telling her to just relish all of this success as a Comp 3 because it only gets harder from here.  The problem is that she loves gymnastics so much that, although she only goes to practice once a week, she is constantly doing handstands, cartwheels, front & back walkovers and even practices on the bars during school recess!  With all of this practice, she keeps getting better and she already has the skills necessary to move to the next level.  Even though the meets are long, she is so much fun to watch when she performs.  We are so proud of her abilities and her determination!

Floor routine

For the Comp 3 beam routine, the gymnasts are supposed to start on a certain side of the beam so they have enough space to do their skills and are facing the right way for their cartwheel (some do it left-handed, some do it right-handed).  Unfortunately, Mattea's coach told her to start on the wrong side, so you will notice her looking down at the beam during her routine.  She was trying to figure out how to complete all of her required skills from the wrong side.  I had been wondering why she had spent so much time on one end of the beam until she told me afterwards what had happened.  I'm very proud of her for just  dealing with it on the fly!

Comp 3's do a very simple vault.  Mattea is SO ready to do something more challenging!

Hat Day!

Today is Hat Day at the elementary school. Mattea looked so cute in her braids and fedora.

Being goofy

Whenever I get out my masks, it is inevitable that Josh and Mattea will want to join in the fun.  Fun times at the Dolan household!!!

Easter gifts

This post is dedicated to our amazing Aunt Julie... thank you for the fun Easter gifts and candy. We will think of you the next time we get ice cream at Coldstone. We love you to the moon and back!

Another teenager in the house!

As of today at 7:49 p.m., we have another teenager in the house! While it's very exciting, it's also quite scary. With the teenage years comes attitude, rebellion, moodiness, driving (eventually), independence... did I mention moodiness???

Josh was very excited to be turning 13. We are waiting for the weather to get nicer before having a birthday party at the paintball field.  We did have a nice time celebrating his birthday, though. Since his birthday was on a Monday, we celebrated the weekend before.  After much urging (on his part), we took him to the store to buy a new airsoft gun. He was able to pick out the one that he wanted and he was thrilled!

After visiting the airsoft gun store, we took Josh and his BFF, Cam, to Texas Road house for lunch. They were screwballs like always.

 

On Sunday night, Josh talked us into taking him to Dave & Buster's for dinner and some video games.  I'm telling you... he milked this "but my birthday is on a Monday and I will be in school all day" for all it was worth!  D&B's was really fun, though... we all had a great time playing games and winning tickets.

Finally, on Monday night, we had homemade birthday cake and called it GOOD!
 

 

Happiest of birthdays to you, Joshie Woshie Bo Boshie Banana Fana Fo Foshie Me My Joshie!